Chapter 25: Hello, Big Sister

“Dad, I’m going to say something that might sound harsh and unfilial, but if you died right now—could you even afford to die?!

Haven’t you seen the messages in the residents’ group? Right now, the hospital, the police, even the crematorium—every single phone line is busy!

Old Liu’s mother in 403 dropped dead from acute myocardial infarction because of this extreme heat. She’s just lying stiff at home!

With temperatures this high, the body might start to rot by tonight!

So if you die, where am I supposed to bury you?! Forget anything else—even the garbage room in our complex is piled so high it’s swarming with green-headed flies!”

He Chunmei’s words were beyond harsh, firing off like a machine gun—rat-tat-tat, not a single pause.

“Chunmei, you’re being completely unreasonable and impossible!!”

Zhou Shangyou was so angry he slammed his cane against the floor tiles, then looked up and sighed, “Oh, what kind of sin has our Zhou family committed?!”

As soon as he finished, whether from the heat or from being provoked by He Chunmei’s words, his vision went black and he collapsed to the ground.

Jiang Lifeng, standing nearby, jumped in fright and reached out to grab his sleeve. “Old man!”

“Grandpa!”

“Grandpa!”

The two kids immediately tossed their stools aside and ran over.

“Dad!”

The tall Zhou Guangfu rushed forward and caught Zhou Shangyou.

He Chunmei fumbled for a second, then quickly regained her composure and started giving orders:

“Zhou Guangfu, you take Dad home to rest! I’ll stay here and keep banging on the door. I don’t believe she won’t open up this morning!”

In her eyes, it would be no loss if her mother-in-law Jiang Lifeng, who had chronic illnesses and never got along with her, was gone.

But her father-in-law Zhou Shangyou had a high retirement pension—he couldn’t just die! He was the family’s money tree!

“Wife, forget it, let’s just go home together.” Zhou Guangfu frowned deeply and sighed.

Their daughter had jaundice and pneumonia right after birth, and every day the tiny baby was left alone under blue lights in the hospital, her forehead covered in tubes...

Every time they remembered that, both husband and wife were heartbroken to the point of tears.

Ever since then, whenever their daughter got seriously ill, He Chunmei became a bundle of nerves.

Honestly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she’d go a little crazy.

And after hearing that heatstroke had a fatality rate of 20%-70%, and seeing her precious kids showing signs of nausea, vomiting, and fever, He Chunmei was clearly panicking:

“If you want to go home, go by yourself! If this keeps up, Baobao and Beibei are going to die! Even if I end up in jail, I’m getting them air conditioning today! Baobao, Beibei, stay here with Mommy—don’t go home!”

He Chunmei glared fiercely, then raised her hand and started pounding on Jiang Yan’s door. “Little sister! Open the door!!”

Zhou Guangfu could only shake his head helplessly, called his mother Jiang Lifeng, and helped his father Zhou Shangyou home.

The two kids didn’t dare wander off, so they just stood by the door of 3202, staring blankly at their mother.

The high-definition images played out as if right before her eyes.

Jiang Yan watched, taking a deep breath.

Is this what they mean by “an innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth”?

If this were her previous life, or even just before, she would have opened the door without hesitation and let them in.

But now, she knew this was only the beginning of the apocalypse, not the real descent into chaos.

Most people thought if they could just get through these few days, everything would be fine.

Only she knew—the days ahead would only get worse, much worse.

If she softened her heart and let them in now, she could forget about ever getting them out again.

Especially with the way they were acting—aggressive, unreasonable, and eyeing her place like hungry wolves.

Who knew, maybe they’d even take over her home for good.

On the screen, He Chunmei’s angry voice rang out again:

“Little girl, stop pretending! Open the door, or I’ll break it down!!”

He Chunmei didn’t know Jiang Yan had left home early. Seeing the door still closed, she simply raised the small iron hammer in her hand.

From the way she was aiming at the keypad lock, it looked like she was ready to smash it and force her way in.

But only Jiang Yan knew—even if the keypad was smashed to pieces, the door still wouldn’t open.

Unless they blew up the lock core or took the whole door off its hinges.

On the screen, He Chunmei raised the little hammer again.

But instead of smashing it down, she paused, bracing her back and gasping for breath.

The room was just too hot. After all that yelling, she was already short of breath and her face was flushed red.

Jiang Yan frowned, her fingers quickly activating the anti-intrusion program.

She didn’t go too far—just set it to the lowest voltage, 110V, as a little warning.

The apocalypse hadn’t truly arrived yet; if she electrocuted someone to death, that’d be too much.

Plus, there were two kids watching.

“Little girl, I’m knocking one last time! If you still don’t open up, don’t blame me for what happens next!” He Chunmei shouted, pounding on the door again.

“Bzzzt!” As her palm landed for the last time, a piercing, bone-deep numbness—like being bitten by millions of ants—shot up her arm and through her whole body.

He Chunmei let out a shriek—“Aah!”—and staggered back two steps, the iron hammer falling from her limp hand with a clang.

“Mom, what happened?!”

“Mom!!”

The two kids jumped in fright and tried to run over to help.

“Don’t come over!” He Chunmei wasn’t stupid—she knew that feeling was an electric shock.

She hadn’t tied her hair up today, just let it down.

For a split second, she’d even seen her hair stand on end from the static.

He Chunmei took a few deep breaths to steady herself, then stood in place and peered through the peephole, but after a long look, she couldn’t see anything unusual.

“Mom?” The little boy called out softly, seeing his mother just standing there.

He Chunmei snapped back to herself, a flash of malice in her eyes. She gritted her teeth and shouted, “You’re ruthless, little girl! Just wait and see!”

With that, she carefully picked up the iron hammer, turned to the two kids, and said,

“Come on, Baobao, Beibei, let’s go home for now.”

If she couldn’t break down this girl’s door by herself—

What about with a group?

There were hundreds of families in this complex, and plenty of people, just like her, with elderly, children, or sick relatives who desperately needed air conditioning.

There’s strength in numbers—she just didn’t believe it couldn’t be done!

Whether it was moral coercion or outright taking over, it was always easier with a crowd!

No sooner said than done!

He Chunmei handed the little hammer to her son, told him to take his sister home, then pulled out her phone and quickly sent a message to the residents’ group:

[A-3203: Family, does anyone need air conditioning to cool off today? If you do, DM me! Note: Only for households with elderly, sick, disabled, pregnant, or young children!]

She’d barely sent the message when a beautiful woman with the username “A-701” added her as a friend.

[Hello, big sister! I’m Zhang Qiqi, I just moved in :) ]"